“Each year we are trying to introduce something new. This year we are hoping to start the greener approach from the medals now being manufactured from bamboo.
“The finish line will be called the green mile where we would use young threes as the finish shoot and potentially donate those trees to the city to plant.
“The weather is very unpredictable but that is part of the difficultly of the race.
"We have moved to an online format from an entries point of view which is open until January 28. That has been great. There has been some good response and we have taken real care along with Amobia to focus on online presence and social media.
“We have a strong base in PE but we would like to spread it beyond the province to the rest of the country. The plan is to increase the entries foothold nationally as well next year,” he said.
The event consists of three races: a 50km ultra run, 21.1km half marathon and a 5km family run. The half marathon was only introduced last year after the 10km race was discontinued.
“There are many 10km events on the running calendar in PE and they are popular. Most of the competitive runners are fit enough to run 21.1km. It seems to be the most enjoyable distance and there is a shortage of them in our running calendar.”
Amobia Communications managing director Nicola Smith said: “Amobia has been the title sponsor of this event for the past two years in a row. Our specialty is delivering internet to the public.
“We are involved in this race because we believe it is critical for our city for us to grow this event and our roots are in Port Elizabeth.
“There is a mass participation prize and the school with the most entries will get a one-year internet subscription worth R15,000.”
Bay Ultra Marathon plans to go even bigger this year
Race organisers hope for 18,000 entries
Image: Vuyokazi Nkanjeni
Nelson Mandela Bay roadrunners are gearing up for the Bay Ultra Marathon which takes place at Pollok Beach on Saturday, February 9.
The event, organised by Body Concept Road Warriors and sponsored by Amobia Communications, remains a popular race with runners. It is one of only two ultra-distance races in the Eastern Cape that have prestige and participation league status and is the only one staged in Port Elizabeth.
Because of its position in the calendar in relation to the Two Oceans and Comrades Marathons, the race is often used by athletes to gauge their readiness for these international-acclaimed events.
Body Concept Road Warriors chairman Mark Huppelschoten said the aim is to clock 18,000 entries this year.
“In total last year we had about 16,000 runners and this year we are expecting about 18,000. From a safety point of view we cannot exceed 20,000. Next year that is the threshold we aim to cross,” Huppelschoten said.
“The race has been consistently run for some 37 years. We have battled with sponsorship that we have had to carry the costs ourselves which has been an expensive lesson.
“Each year we are trying to introduce something new. This year we are hoping to start the greener approach from the medals now being manufactured from bamboo.
“The finish line will be called the green mile where we would use young threes as the finish shoot and potentially donate those trees to the city to plant.
“The weather is very unpredictable but that is part of the difficultly of the race.
"We have moved to an online format from an entries point of view which is open until January 28. That has been great. There has been some good response and we have taken real care along with Amobia to focus on online presence and social media.
“We have a strong base in PE but we would like to spread it beyond the province to the rest of the country. The plan is to increase the entries foothold nationally as well next year,” he said.
The event consists of three races: a 50km ultra run, 21.1km half marathon and a 5km family run. The half marathon was only introduced last year after the 10km race was discontinued.
“There are many 10km events on the running calendar in PE and they are popular. Most of the competitive runners are fit enough to run 21.1km. It seems to be the most enjoyable distance and there is a shortage of them in our running calendar.”
Amobia Communications managing director Nicola Smith said: “Amobia has been the title sponsor of this event for the past two years in a row. Our specialty is delivering internet to the public.
“We are involved in this race because we believe it is critical for our city for us to grow this event and our roots are in Port Elizabeth.
“There is a mass participation prize and the school with the most entries will get a one-year internet subscription worth R15,000.”
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